Orioles Rout Rangers in Series Opener

Photo by Tim Heitman/Getty Images

July 19, 2024

Orioles 9, Rangers 1

ARLINGTON, Tex. (Jul 19) — The Texas Rangers began the second half of the season on a sour note, losing to the Baltimore Orioles, 9–1, on Friday night. The crowd of 36,336 was not pleased with the loss, especially coming off the Rangers’ turn at hosting the 2024 All-Star Game 72 hours prior. The Orioles, meanwhile, were aided by home runs by Adley Rutschman, Colton Cowser, and Anthony Santander. The Rangers will try to force a rubber game in the series on Saturday evening with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez (11–4, 3.88 ERA) will toe the slab for the Orioles, while the Rangers will counter with righty Max Scherzer (1–2, 2.96 ERA)

Orioles Strike Early

The Orioles grabbed a 4–0 lead in the top of the first against Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi. A leadoff single to left by Gunnar Henderson set the table for Rutschman, who belted one to right-center. After a lineout to Marcus Semien at second by Santander, Ryan O’Hearn drove a double to center. Two batters later, Cowser hit a two-run home run to right-center, not far from where Rutschman’s shot landed. The Rangers got into the run column in the bottom of the second off Orioles starter Corbin Burnes, who was fresh off his start in this year’s All-Star Game at Globe Life Field on Tuesday. After striking out Wyatt Langford swinging, Adolis Garcia grounded out to second. On deck was Nathaniel Lowe, who promptly hit his seventh home run of the season, a solo shot to center.

Fast forward to the top of the fifth. Henderson led off with a single to center. Rutschman popped out to Josh Smith at third. Due up was Santander, who deposited the Orioles third homer of the night to right-center to make it 6–1 Orioles. Perhaps they had a friendly contest going on in the Orioles dugout to see how many long balls they could hit to right-center. All of their dingers up to that point went out to that area. The Orioles stretched their lead to 9–1 in the bottom of the seventh against Rangers reliever Jonathan Hernandez. After Jorge Mateo flied to left, Henderson reached on a single to right, his fourth hit of the evening. On deck was Rutschman who drew a walk. That brought up Santander, who blasted his second home run of the game to right.

What Went Right for the Orioles

The long ball was working for the Orioles on Friday. Santander accounted for half of them with the two that he sent over the wall. Rutschman and Cowser were no slouches either, as they had one dinger apiece. Their pitching staff showed up as well, having surrendered one run to the Rangers on the night. When your offense and defense are both working on any given night, you’re going to be really tough to beat.

What Went Wrong for the Orioles

The only blemish on the Orioles’ box score in this one was the solo homer to center by Lowe in the bottom of the second. From the third inning on, everything went very well for the visiting Orioles.

Rare Off Night for Eovaldi

Rangers righty Nathan Eovaldi suffered the loss after surrendering season highs in runs and home runs over five innings. His final line was 5 IP, 8 H, 6 R-ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3 HR, 76 pitches/57 strikes. Eovaldi’s record for 2024 now sits at 6–4 with an ERA of 3.36. All six runs that he allowed came on the trio of two-run homers. This was Eovaldi’s first time permitting three-plus homers in a single game since conceding a career-worst five dingers on May 17, 2022, against the Houston Astros as a member of the Boston Red Sox.

All three long balls on Friday came on pitches thrown when he was ahead in the count. This loss was his first at Globe Life Field in 202 as he was unbeaten in his last 15 starts there, including the postseason, dating back to his most recent defeat on September 5, 2023, against the Astros. His line for that start was 1 1/3 IP, 4 R-ER.

Ten for Burnes

Orioles starter Corbin Burnes earned his 10th win of the season. His line was 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R-ER, 4 BB, 6 SO, 1 HR, 101 pitches/60 strikes. He was able to lower his season ERA from 2.43 to 2.38. Burnes has only given up two runs in 13 innings against the Rangers this season despite walking a season-high four batters. He has five-plus strikeouts in 10 straight starts. His 116 strikeouts are the most by an Orioles hurler in 2024. The righty’s 16 Quality Starts are tied for first in the majors, as he topped 100 pitches for the first time since May 28. The AL All-Star starter has gone 3–1 with a 2.54 ERA and 34 strikeouts over his last six road starts. His overall record for 2024 now sits at 10–4 with an ERA of 2.38.

Bochy’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy commented on Eovaldi’s start. “They’re a good hitting ballclub,” Bochy said. “Their strength is hitting the ball out of the ballpark and they got some pitches and took advantage of it. Nate’s been so good, but tonight they didn’t miss some pitches. The long ball got us.”

Eovaldi’s Postgame Comments

After Bochy’s exit, Eovaldi also commented on his performance. “I wasn’t executing my pitches when I was ahead in the count,” Eovaldi said. “I felt like I hung some curveballs. The splitters were up a little bit. The fastball command wasn’t very good. Just felt like I didn’t really execute a lot of my pitches very well tonight.”“I felt like in the first inning, I threw a lot of pitches and I want to try to go as deep as I can into the game, so I tried to attack the hitters in different ways,” Eovaldi explained.

“I feel like a lot of the time the lineups will have an approach coming in. I was trying to use the cutter inside and I felt like they were able to fight it off pretty well and then I tried to counteract that the next time through the lineup. It was a bit of cat and a mouse (game).”“Mechanically, I felt a little bit off,” Eovaldi said. “I felt like I was rushing down the mound a little bit and I was flying open. A lot of the times when I do my pauses and hesitations, it deceives the hitter a little bit, but it also helps me out when I go to execute my pitches. Those are usually my fastest ones. Tonight I felt like I just couldn’t slow down.”